La Fitness

Miss Minnesota Carolina Reyes and I promoted the International pageant system's platform of Go Red for Women at the La Fitness gym in St Louis Park. Many women stopped by to ask what we were doing and we took that opportunity to educate them on knowing their numbers as well as give them a free Red Dress pin! Men stopped by too and supported the movement!

Our table at the gym

Woman of the Year

 

 I was just nominated Woman of the Year for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society for 2011!! Two people who are totally unrelated were the ones who nominated. http://www.mwoy.org/what/campaign/

The money raised between the 10 week campaign will go to help fund researchers and advance the mission of the society, Cure the disease!! We will be campaigning on behalf of two children who have gone through the chemo process due to having leukemia. I can't imagine as a parent hearing the words that your child has cancer. This is a wonderful organization and any dollar I can raise will help.

I will be getting a special website hosted by the LLS where people can go directly to donate. My goal is to raise $25,000. I'll let you know the web address when it's up and running so get your wallets ready!!

We had a gathering at Crave in Golden Valley where we got to meet others participating as well as past winners. I also got to advertise the pageant system and my platform. Anywhere is a good place to talk to parents about Internet safety!!



Myself with Vikki Shaw, the Deputy Executive Director for the LLS



Ella, the girl of the year that we will be supporting, and myself. She was so sweet! We even sang "Happy Birthday" to her because she just turned 8!!

Go Red for Women

  I volunteered at the annual Go Red for Women luncheon at the Hilton Hotel. This is the national platform for the International Pageant System. Heart disease is the #1 killer of women so it's very important that women pay attention to their bodies and health. I don't have a history of heart disease in my family and my husband and I are vegan which means I eat no cholesterol in diet so my numbers are great!

It was great to see so many people support the cause. At the lunch we raised over $40,000!!

The ballroom was set up just beautifully for the event.

Danielle Enberg, Miss Wright County, and I were greeters for the attendees as they entered the event.

Qcumbers with the girls!

We had a chance to meet up with the other ladies at Qcumbers in Edina to catch up and talk about the upcoming pageant.  It was fun to see how the others are doing and how their preparations are coming. Having been through this before it was fun to offer some insight to the weekend and other issues they may have questions about.
Two other former queens were there which were fun to see as well! I can't wait until the pageant to see how all of the hard work pays off!

Feed our Starving Children

We all joined at Calvery Luthern Church in Golden Valley to put together bags of soup which will be shipped to Haiti. We created 28,944 bags of soup which consist of rice, soy, chicken flavor and dehydrated vegetables.  When the food arrives they simply boil water and the soup provides nutrious meals for 6 and only cost about $1.15 to produce!
For more information on the organization or to volunteer please visit http://www.fmsc.org/

Another volunteer and I at the prep station scrubbing up!

Ooh La La

Ooh La La is a fashion boutique downtown Excelsior, MN and it is my FAVORITE place to shop when I need fun accessories and clothes for myself or gifts for others. I have had the opportunity to get to know the owner Connie over the years so she calls me whenever she needs a favor. She wanted to showcase some of her new arrivals in the store and I was more than happy to help! I highly recommend stopping in to say "hi," to Connie and to shop!! Then hit up some of the great restaurants Excelsior has to offer.
Be sure to find Ohh La La on Facebook as well!

The signature shirt!! SO comfortable to wear!

They have a lot of things with crowns on them.

 Jackets with stones and prints come in a variety of styles

Myself with the owner Connie

Mrs Minneapolis sporting the MN Twins shirt..in rhinestones of course!

They have great funky hats there too!

Banner Presentation in Excelsior

I went to Excelsior, MN to support my fellow contestant Elizabeth Hopfenspirger, Mrs Excelsior International 2011, for her official banner presentation by the Mayor of Excelsior, Nick Ruehl. With her was her husband Mike and adorable son Evan. (hes good at silly faces!) Elizabeth is a wonderful person and I am so happy to be on this journey with her. Excelsior can be proud now to have such a great representative in the Mrs Minnesota International pageant!!!

Myself, Elizabeth Hopfenspirger Mrs Excelsior 2011, and community member Natalie Hagemo (Mrs Excelsior 2008)

I was given a chance to speak on my platform as well. How generous!!!